Digital review sites are full of whiners and should be ignored… right? WRONG! Following I will bust the top five myths about digital review sites like Trip Advisor, Facebook, Google and others, and show why every tourism business must have a strategy for learning from and responding to reviews.
MYTH 1: If I don’t register my business on the travel review site, people can’t review me.
MYTH!!! Anyone can review any business, whether that business is already on the site or not. If a business hasn’t claimed their listing on all relevant travel review sites, people are simply talking about that business behind their backs. The best thing to do is claim the business presence on those sites, to enable review responses from the business.
MYTH 2: I don’t need to respond to positive reviews.
MYTH!!! Fans need love! They love you, so love them back. And don’t simply use a template response. Other people reading through all your reviews will see that you put no effort into each response, and will switch off. Be thankful, and provide a unique response, personalised to the reviewer’s experience.
MYTH 3: I don’t need to respond to negative reviews.
MYTH!!! A reviewer has taken time to let you know there was something they didn’t like about your experience. Provide a considered, diplomatic, empathic response, and everyone else reading the responses will know you take on board criticisms and seek to resolve them. Be wary – don’t respond to reviews in anger! Take time to give a considered response.
MYTH 4: People only whine on review sites, and the business is powerless to defend themselves.
MYTH!!! In the case of abusive, personal attacks from reviewers, these can be reported to review sites. Once reported, you can keep following up your report to find out what the outcome is. In the case of abuse or serial complainers, often the review site will remove the review. At TCA, we have even had people provide a negative review that we have been able to prove was not actually a review for our business. In those cases, once again, the reviews are taken down. Yes, sometimes the abusive content will be on the review site for a little while until it is removed, but our customers are generally quite intelligent. They know when a review is over the top and not reflective of the business.
MYTH 5: Review sites don’t matter.
MYTH!!! Some peer reviewed studies show a causal link between positive reviews on travel sites and increased market share. Others show that positive reviews can lead to the ability to charge higher prices, or at least receive more bookings. Taking time to nurture online reputation can result in more income.
To find out more about how to nurture your online reputation, please speak to Tourism Central Australia’s Tourism Industry Development Officer, Ben Hickman. Contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
